Toothbrush



L. E. CHURCH TOOTHBRUSH Filed April 23, 1929 Marchl 10, 1931.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 1Q, 1931 l UNITED f STATES 1.1mm E. cannon, F BURNETT' RANCH, v:micas 'roo'.rnnnusn Application med April 23,

This in vention relates to the lclass of tooth brushes. l

The principal object of the invention is the production of a tooth brush for the purpose of cleaning the teeth and gums, designed and adapted to be flexed, bent or warped, at the will of the user to arch the end having the bristles, to make a concave or convex arch of the bristles to fit the outside or inside arch of the teeth, so as to conform' to the contour of the dental surfaces to be cleaned in a thorough and ea manner. Anolszlier object of the invention resides in the particular provision, construction and J5 relative dispositlon of the parts.

The nature of the invention and its distinguishing features and advantages will appear when the following specification is read in connection with the accompanying drawin in whichi re 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rush, on an enlarged scale constructed in accordance with the present invention, por tions being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the ilexin unit, the section being taken as indicated ivry the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the flexing unit, the section being taken as indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the flexible and resilient strips of theiexible unit of the handle.

Fi 6 is a side elevation of the brush shown flexe to form the bristles in a convex arch.

Fig. 7` is a transverse sectional view of a Amodified form of flexing unit.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of a modified form of brush head.

Referring now more particularly to the several views of the drawing, it will be apparent, that the tooth brush of the present invention will include a flexing unit which extends throughout the handle 10 and head. 11 of the' brush. The flexing unit includes two thin strips 12 and 13 of iiexible and resilient ma terial such as spring steel, or other suitable material. The strips 12 and 13 are laid to- 1929. Serial No. 357,560.

gether and their opposite ends are welded or otherwise fastened together. Use may be made of two separate strips, or a single piece of material may bebent uponitself, to present l i a bight fastening a pair of the ends of the strips as indicated at 14, and the other pair ofv ends being welded as at 15, shown most clearly in Fig. 5. A relatively wide cleat or clip 16 of tubular formation, approximately onethird the length of the flexing unit, surrounds 6b both strips 12 and 13 intermediate the ends thereof, and said cleat or clip is fastened to the strip 12 as indicated at 17 in Fig.v3, to keep the cleat or `clip from creeping or crawling along the strips. The strip 13 is allowed to 65 be loose enough in the cleat or clip 16 to easily slide lengthwise through it and still be held properly associated with the strip 12. From each end of the cleat or clip 16 to the end of the strips 12 and 13, said strips are held in 70 close proximity to each other by narrow cleats or clips 18 arranged in spaced relationship. These narrow cleats 18 also are fastened securely as indicated at 19 to the strip 12. The flexing unit soV constructed '75 vconstitutes, a body, frame or core which is inclosed by suitablepliable rubber, gum, celluloid compounds, or any other suitable material possessing suliic'ient flexibility and resiliency, to form an outer 'body to complete 80 the construction of the handle '10 and head 11 of the brush. This outer or exterior part of the handle and head .will therefore consist of materials which may be readily molded or vulcanized around the flexing unit, and ma be of any desired shape or design which wi l be flexible. The bristles 20 may-be incorporated in the head llin accordance with knownmethods of manufacture, as for instance by setting the bristles directly into the material 9 constituting the head, or if this material is ins uiiciently hard and rigid, the bristlesmay be set in strips of hard material. The single row strip 21 of bristles may then be vulcanized or otherwise fastened to the head 11 s0 95 that the rows of bristles will be disposed at right angles to the head with suiicient space between the rows of bristles, to allow for the arching of the head.

From the foregoing it will be apparent '100 y that when the handle is held in one hand most clearly in Fig. 6. This is true'because the strips 12 and 13 are only fastened together at their extremities, and all intermediate points are allowed to move or slide lengthwise against and inde endently of each other. lrom Fig. 3 it Wi l be apparent that the strip 12 Will be arched on a greater radius than the strip 13, due tothe fact that .the end of the handle remote from the bristle end is arched upwardly, consequently the head Will be arched reversely, making a convex arch of the bristles. The bristles thus arched will lit the inside ofthe arch of the teeth, and therefore will conform to the contour of the dental surface inside of the mouth, and the bristles may therefore be moved over the teeth in the cleaning operation. When the end of the handle l0 is flexed in a reverse direction from that just mentioned the head will be reversely arched, and consequently the bristles Will be made to assume a concave arch which will readily lit the outside arch of the teeth for the obvious purpose. In each case the displacement of the strips 12 and 13 is compensated for in a' reverse arch of the head 11 and therefore of the bristles 20 to the arch of the end of the handle remote from the bristle end. I

In some instances the flexing unit will be encased in a sheath, sleeve or tube 21 ofv suitable pliable material that will not adhere to the metal parts of the unit, and which will adhere to the material of which.

the outer or exterior part of the handle and eating the flexing unit prior to themolding of the body around it, to prevent the molded material from adhering, to the metal parts of the unit.

I claim:

1. A tooth brush having a exible and resilient body consisting of a bristle portion and a handle portion; and in combination, flexible and resilient members slidably connected together intermediate their opposite ends and fixedly secured to each other at the ends and one of said members being fixedly secured to both of said body portions, Whereby the head portion will be arched by arching said handle portion.

2. A tooth brush having a flexible and resilient body consisting of a bristle head portion and a handle portion; and in combination, a flexible and resilient unit extending relatively longitudinally through both of said portions, whereby to arch said head portion by arching said handle portion, said unit consisting of flexible and resilient strips laid upon each other and fastened fixedly to each other at their opposite ends, and means embedded in said body embracing both of said strips and holding them in contact throughout their length.

3. A tooth brush having a flexible and resilient body consisting of a bristle head portion and a handle portion; and in combina- V tion a flexible and resilient unit extending 

